


Ice, Fire, And Anxiety[Axel X FEM Ice Princess Reader]

by Vidjauser



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Anxiety, Axel - Freeform, Axel X Reader - Freeform, Axel x Ice Princess, Cute, Elements, F/M, Fire X Ice, Fire and Ice, Frozen Kingdom Hearts, Help, Ice, Ice Princess, Kingdom Hearts Reader-Insert, Mental Health Issues, Mental Illness, Princess - Freeform, Reader-Insert, frozen, sweetie
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-22
Updated: 2019-07-23
Packaged: 2020-07-10 19:00:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,618
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19910629
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vidjauser/pseuds/Vidjauser
Summary: Fire meets ice as you, an ice princess with anxiety meets a certain man your mentor, Elsa, has invited to the castle. He is very kind, but is he kind enough to melt away your anxiety?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Old Reader-Insert Oneshot with Axel. Check out my Wattpad for more stories and my Instagram for art. I am slowly transferring some stories from my Kingdom Hearts Oneshot book over here into their own stories.  
> My Wattpad: https://www.wattpad.com/user/Vidjauser  
> My Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vidjauser/?hl=en

There planned to be extra special guests arriving at the castle today, and Elsa, Anna, and you all wanted to look your best for it. Having only been there for a few months, under the special training of Elsa for your ice powers, Elsa had you in her room prepping and reviewing things you would need to know. 

"Remember your mindful breathing," Elsa spoke in her normal authoritative voice but had a hint of softness she only used to persuade you during your lectures. She stood in front of you as you sat on her royal bed, her arms behind her back to avoid distractions. "And whenever you feel the need to freak out, just remember to take a body scan and breathe. Taking control of yourself can help when it comes to using your powers." The freshly applied red glossy lipstick shined as bright as she smiled brighter. 

You nodded but sighed, patting over your stomach. 

"Kinda hard with the corset," you admitted with your low and shy voice. 

Elsa had to drop her head as she shook it with the smallest grin tugging her lips; she couldn't and wouldn't believe you. "Leave the room if you have to," she continued as a gentle reminder, "Don't feel forced to stay there."

"I know, Elsa. But I feel calm today, so I think I'll go."

Giving moments thoughts to Elsa's guests, you wondered who they were. Were they like you and Elsa with Ice powers? Or regular people that you knew not off? They could be another royal family—powerful in so many possible ways. The opportunities were endless. 

The thoughts provoked your anxiety—which was bad and really affected not only the control of your powers, but your health too, and the safety of the kingdom. You had to perish the thought. If you were lucky, you would only have a couple panic attacks a day; compared to living back at your kingdom, here was so much better since you could have so many that it took days to thaw the latches on your door.

However, for the past couple of months now, you'd stayed in Arendelle to train with Elsa who had ice powers and controlled them amazingly; you longed to feel that control, and luckily lately you had. When you had no panic attacks, you felt free and carefree. For the past eight days, there had been no icy accidents and hoped you today—especially since company from elsewhere planned to appear—would be the ninth. It would be not only a great victory but an outstanding accomplishment. Just barely, you could smile at the thought. 

"I'm proud of you." Elsa placed her hand on your shoulder, sending confidence throughout your body and making you stand up straighter like a proper lady. "Keep it up."

"I will, Elsa. Thank you."

"Your majesty, your guests are here!" On the other side of Elsa's door, one of the many servants warned you two. 

Elsa looked to the door, then at you. "Finish up here and meet me in the throne room, OK? I'll keep the guests warmed up for you." She rubbed her hands together, about as ready as you were, cause she knew the accomplishment at stake as well. 

"Of course, ma'am." You nodded and watched as she left; Elsa gave you a thumbs up before she was out the door. 

But you never knew that your confidence would leave with her.

You took a deep breath in before you stood and prepared. You carefully laced up the silky dress brought in for you by the servants under Elsa's orders, and fixed your hair delicately up with your golden tiara. Your hair tangled at first with the crown, sending a small sense of dread throughout your body, especially through your nerves. Desperately wanting to fix it sent a nasty sensation up and down your arms. What if it didn't untangle by the time you left the room? Or if you pulled a clump of your hair out? You'd be disastrous and a humiliation to Elsa's side. God, you needed help running the brush through the back of your hair, but the thought of asking a servant scared you more than anything else. Other than Elsa and Anna, you didn't talk to others, really.

Oh God, that meant that you couldn't talk to these guests. 

Placing the brush down on Elsa's vanity, you took a long and hard look at yourself in the mirror and gulped. Were you good enough to go out there and face them?

"Madam, are you ready?" Elsa's servant asked you again. 

You flinched at the sound of his voice and called out, "J-Just a moment! I'm fixing my dres—no, applying my makeup!"

"Take your time, Madam."

But how much time? You asked yourself before you slapped on some of Elsa's lipstick and rushed out the door. 

To the right was the long way to the throne room, where you could escape through the ballroom under the eyes of no one. 

"The throne room is that way Madam," Elsa's servant pointed out before you could head your way. Dang, caught. 

Stopping in your tracks, you bunched your chest in a slight ball of discomfort and spoke out barely in a whisper, "I-I knew that." 

They nodded their head. 

You turned the right direction and held the edges of your dress as you tried to walk without your legs shaking—unsuccessfully. Once your legs began shaking, that's when you knew the ice caps would grow on you if you weren't careful, starting on your finger and toe tips. As calmly as you could, you lifted your chin pridefully and walked. You focused on your breaths mindfully, noticing your shaky breath as you forced it in and out. Matching your footsteps with your inhales and exhales as Elsa taught you, you closed your eyes briefly and tried to ignore the anxieties of the world. 

"Hey, do you know where the bathroom is?" 

The focus you had on your breath stopped abruptly as did your rhythmical walking. Your eyes shot open, thinking someone was talking to you. Your cheeks flared and your stomach twisted. 

But, oh how lucky you were. Down the hall, an unrecognizable man talked to one of the servants and not you. However, he stood at the top of the staircase you needed to cross to make it down to the ballroom—in your way. You noticed his strange attire for your land with these foreign clothes you had never seen before—a weird style of jacket you wouldn't expect anyone to wear in all the kingdoms over a flannel style shirt. His pants definitely were not formal and he wore boots that probably gave him an extra few inches to his already tall frame; he would tower you in a second. 

His hair was red, and not the color of red Anna had—fire red like flames danced off it.

And suddenly you two met eyes. His were this emerald green that sparkled with something you couldn't put your hands on. 

The redhead's lips curled to a toothy grin before he ran a thumb over his bottom lip quickly. 

NO. I can't do this, your mind screamed and you spun the opposite direction, racing off, not being able to face him.

You couldn't see the man's face anymore but you could feel it haunting your mind. 

You passed Elsa's servant again—his head tilting in confusion. "Madam, where are you going?" 

"I... back to my own room..." You lowered your head in defeat since there was no use.

"Why is that?"

"I'm... feeling tired," you lied through your teeth, "So I'm going to take a nap."

"A nap will make you feel better. But don't take a long one, yes? Dinner is in two hours and Elsa will want you there if you don't show up. now."

Why? "Okay. Thank you." You walked slowly at first, but once he was out of the picture, you raced down the hallways, faster and faster; the urge to get to your room grew as you ran faster with your heels screaming your arrival. As you near your room, you could feel the smallest amount of cold sprout at your fingertips. It was coming, and you couldn't stop it. 

Closing your eyes, you awaited the explosion of ice as it always came when you didn't want it to. 

Bump. 

You collided into the body of someone small and screamed as you collapsed right over top of them. Your tiara flung off your body and rolled on down the hallway, reaching the spiral flight of stairs that ran down to the main level of the castle. You gasped and threw yourself off the body, seeing who you had run into. Was it one of the servants? Or worse... One of the guests?

Anna groaned and rubbed her head with the palm of her right hand. It took you a few seconds of realization before you jumped into action. 

"Oh my god, Anna, I'm so sorry." You gasped and tried to help her up as you rushed to your feet. 

"Ugh... I think so." Her hands extended out to catch herself, but you were there to support her.

"I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to run into you."

Anna took a moment to compose herself and you rubbed your hands together nervously. "Do you need help to the throne room?" You placed a hand on her back hesitantly. 

"I think... I'm fine!" She abruptly burst into a ball of energy, recovering almost instantly. "Hey, I'll meet ya down there, OK?" She smiled and raced down the stairs before you could say a word.

Lucky you, Anna unknowingly saved you from an anxiety attack. You reached up and touched your hair, trying to adjust the strands until you realized: your tiara was gone. 

In an instant, your blood ran colder than ice and you slapped your hands over your mouth. Your tiara! It was a priceless heirloom passed down through all the princesses in your bloodline, and you just lost in a large castle.

You dropped down on the ground and searched the area, trying to find it; under plants and under benches, but it was nowhere.Your knees scraped along the ground, eventually until—RIIIP. Your body lunged forward as your dress tore and gave out from underneath you, making you trip and land right against your chin harshly. 

Before you knew it, you were whimpering in pain. You gripped at the velvety carpet underneath you, turning it white with your ice. A stinging sensation burned through your knee as it had scraped along the carpet. 

You continued to whimper as you pushed yourself to your feet, watching your knees shake. One of them was red from a rug burn, where most of your weight had been. 

"No..." You complained to yourself and shook your head. Now your dress was ruined. "I'm such an idiot." You took a deep breather, trying to straighten out your composure. "There's no way I can go back to my room. I need to find my tiara." You told yourself and looked around the area for a few more minutes without any luck. You then took to the stairs and walked down them slowly, constantly checking over the rails to make sure no one was coming up. Occasionally you had to ignore the stinging pain that made you want to drop down like a spoiled brat and scream. 

You'd already screwed up so badly. What would Elsa say?

Stopping at the last step, you looked down the hallway. One end lead towards the ballroom (as it was the alternative route you originally were going to take), and the other towards another series of hallways you didn't care to explore yet. A few moments thought and you decided to near the ballroom, knowing there would be no one there. 

And boy were you wrong. You stopped yourself last second from entering the ballroom as you heard Elsa's voice speak. You covered your mouth in pure horror; she had already moved rooms, which meant you were late!

You kept hidden around the corner and listened to them. 

"Thanks Sora!" Elsa said in a cheery voice that echoed off the walls, "The ballroom is the prettiest when it's lively and full of people. Hopefully next time you can see it that way."

"That would be awesome!" A boy cheered. You barely peaked around the corner to see who it was—it was an equally cheery boy with brown hair and bright blue eyes that reminded you of the island waters back on your kingdom's shores. He too, like the redhead before, wore questionable clothing but with big boots. Who were they?

He was surrounded by a few others. A girl with red hair and a short pink dress, and a boy with silver hair and... hoods? Attached to his jacket. They looked out of this world. You... kinda liked them. You barely noticed that there were... Animals behind him?! Wearing clothes? A duck and a dog! You couldn't believe it.

You ducked behind the wall and covered your mouth. Who did Elsa invite? And why?

"Elsa!" You heard Anna call out and looked in time to see her run to her sister's side and hunch over, her hands on her knees, "I can't believe you moved onto the next room without me!" She looked at the guests and threw her arms open. "Sora! Donald! Goofy!" She greeted them all. You spied as she individually hugged them and called them by their names once more.

"It's so nice to see you again, Anna—"

"Well, if you hadn't been so late, I wouldn't have moved on." Elsa chuckled. "Anna, I want you to meet Sora's other friend's: Riku and Kairi." She motioned her hand out to the two others around the brunette, who nodded their heads respectfully as their names were called.

"It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Kairi." The red-headed girl introduced herself with a bow of her head.

The tall boy with the silver hair mimicked her. "And I'm Riku."

"It's so nice to meet you both." Anna shook their hands in this exciting waythat she always had. She giggled and ran her hand over the back of her head, where she knew there was a bump forming. "Had a bit of a little run-in with Twix, but I'm sure she'd love these guys too. Wait! She hasn't seen Sora yet—" She gasped.

You perked up at the sound of the nickname Anna had given you. She was talking about you.

"Oh?" Elsa frowned. "Is she okay?"

"Who's this Twix?" Sora asked. For a moment, you thought he had some disdain in his voice, but it was just his imagination.

"Oh yeah." Elsa turned to Sora. "She's a princess from another country. I'm teaching her how to control her ice powers as I had."

Sora's face brightened, proud. "You are? That's great! I'd like to meet her."

"Yeah, Sora you always do—" The duck with a weird accent laughed and Sora elbowed him.

"Shut up, Donald—"

Riku and Kairi laughed.

"She's a great person—" Elsa touched her sister's back. "But where did she go? Is she OK?" Seeing the worry cross Elsa's face made you feel guilty—if only she saw you now. She would probably not feel as proud as she claimed to be. Why was she setting high expectations for them about you?

"Oh, I saw her coming from my room. We kinda ran into each other. She was in a bit of a hurry to get somewhere."

Elsa frowned. "But your room is upstairs and away from the ballroom. What was she doing so far?"

"I... dunno..." Anna hesitated. "I think I should have stayed."

Sora perked up, his face growing determined and protective. "Do we need to go find her?"  
Elsa sighed and shook her head. "Let's give her a few seconds, OK? She sometimes gets too overwhelmed when she's near a lot of new people."

"OK..." Sora didn't seem convinced, but you were glad he didn't jump straight up to find you.   
What Elsa said was true—you really did get easily overwhelmed. Whether you liked it or not. Right now, you weren't even in the room with them and you wanted to have a panic attack. You pulled away from the wall and rushed down the hallway opposite of the ballroom, trying to get as far away as possible; their voices faded in the distance. You didn't want to be around people at all right now.

You sat down on the nearest bench under a large painting and leaned your face into your hands, sobbing at how pathetic you felt. Eight days suddenly became none as you broke down right there. You don't know how much time had passed but when you tried to get up and go to your room, you realized you couldn't move.

"Oh no..." You looked to your legs as ice encased them with a thick layer that would take hours to melt. Your butt had frozen to the seat during your breakdown, and you hadn't noticed. What do I do?! You screamed at yourself mentally, and the ice caps grew thicker. 

Cry. That's all you could think about doing, and all you were good at. So you leaned your head back down, not even controlling the sobs this time. You didn't care if you froze entirely at this point.

A hand touched your shoulder and it felt warm and inviting. You looked up.

It was that man again, with the red hair.

"Hey, you doing okay?" He asked and leaned down onto one knee. "You look a little stuck there."

You barely nodded your head. "I-I am.... Um... ice..."

He chuckled. "I see that." He examined the area with a determined expression. "I think I can help."

"No... you can't. I'm stuck here." You turned your head away, embarrassed he had to see you like this. "Trust me, it's happened before..."

"Nothing I can't handle. Ah, but first..."

He gently held your chin and turned your face with no space at all. He reached his free thumb up and licked it, then ran it under your bottom lip. "There we go—that was bugging me. I tried to tell you had a little lipstick there earlier. Guess you didn't see." He chuckled at the red flare that rose to your cheeks. "Now, for these..."

The man had no personal space whatsoever and touched the ice over your legs. Not that you could get away, even if you wanted to. You dug your nails deep into the bench, making crescent indents with them.

"W-What are you doing?"

"Warmin' you up." A small spark of flames erupted from his hands, forcing you to cover your face as he did so. Then, you felt warmth over your legs as gentle flames started to melt away the thick layer of ice. It didn't take long before it was gone, melted. Your eyes widened. "And this might feel good too."

Without asking, he took your hands and placed them gently over your knee. "Ow!" You whined and flinched. The moments of pain ignited your hands and then you felt—cold. Your powers were making the sting go away in your knee.

"That feel better?" He smiled up to you.

"I... Yes it does. Thank you so much." You bowed your head.

"Oh, and this might belong to you." He took his hands away from yours. As your head bowed, he placed something metal on the area. You gasped and reached up to touch the object, feeling cold edges. Your tiara!

When you met his eyes again, you saw that same spark, and you knew instantly what it was. Confidence.

Yours was oh-so broken.

"My name is Axel. Got it memorized?"


	2. Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fire meets ice as you, an ice princess with anxiety meets a certain man your mentor, Elsa, has invited to the castle. He is very kind, but is he kind enough to melt away your anxiety?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Old Reader-Insert Oneshot with Axel. Check out my Wattpad for more stories and my Instagram for art. I am slowly transferring some stories from my Kingdom Hearts Oneshot book over here into their own stories.  
> My Wattpad: https://www.wattpad.com/user/Vidjauser  
> My Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vidjauser/?hl=en

Facing the party at dinner tonight was something you did not look forward to, but you knew you had to. After some convincing from Axel, it became inevitable that you needed to face this head-on. It was the only way to conquer anything at this rate. Walking back to your room to change your dress, Axel convinced you he had to come with, just so you wouldn't chicken out after you explained to you couldn't do anything because of your anxiety—while almost having an attack right there. Your eyes stared at your feet as you walked, terrified to look anyone in the eyes as you knew many of the servants stationed outside the rooms would be watching you, your torn dress, and the unfamiliar male walking with you. All this attention was killing you, and you hadn't arrived at the party yet.

Approaching the servant stationed outside the door, you fiddled with your fingers as you asked, "May you take awa...away this dress and fetch me a new one...?" You asked, stuttering.

The servant's response was so much different than you expected, "Of course Madam!" He said, with some glorious tone to him that was indifferent compared to the usual monotonous voices that responded to anything, "Go to your room and wait there, then I shall fetch a new pristine dress and take the old one for repairs." With a bow, he left, leaving you blinking forward next to Axel.

"See, now that wasn't so hard," Axel chuckled and patted your shoulder. Again, this boy did not hesitate when it came to touchiness, but you could do nothing about it. Every touch was warm against your skin, even through your dress—and you kinda liked it. It was like those nights you'd lay, curled up next to the fire when you needed warmth that a person couldn't give you.

"Yeah but my insides were screaming," you admitted bashfully and looked to him, staring him in the eyes for a split second. You could only for a few minutes before looking away once again.

"I told you I have some magic when it comes to being around people."

"I don't think that's why Axel. Actually, I feel awkward that you're following me around."

"Why?" He grinned. "I'm doing nothing bad, but I guess I'm just too hot to handle?"

"Excuse me?" Your face flushed. That wasn't true.

"Let's head to your room," he changed the subject.

"Ex...Excuse me?" You repeated with an even more flustered tone to your cheeks and your voice. Keep it up and it would look like his hair. "You're coming in with me?"

The redhead laughed, shaking his head with his hands moving to his hips. "Not in that way, princess. I just think I should continue escorting you. Ya know, down to dinner? Of course, if you're comfortable with that. Are you?" He asked, eyebrow raising at you.

You hesitated. It... sounded okay? He escorted you this far without any problem, but what if your room was his lucky charm? Where he would take his victims for a good time? Back in your old kingdom, that happened to a few pretty ladies on the street. But to be honest—you didn't know. Then again, nothing ever sounded okay to you. Therefore, this might be okay. Just in case, you'd be a ticking time bomb of ice ready to explode with nervous energy, and servants were everywhere if you needed them. One second, you're thinking good of this guy, then the next, you plotted what he would specifically do to kidnap you in your mind.

Maybe you were just crazy paranoid?

"So?" He hummed, awaiting your answer. "Want me to be your escort? I won't bite, and I'll behave." Even though you knew that it was a joke, your heart couldn't help but flush blood along your cheeks.

"I... guess? Sure, just come on. My room is just right here." You motioned to the door you were next to and reached for the handle reluctantly.

Sudden doubt flourished through you, energizing you with thoughts you never wanted to think of towards an innocent person, but they came whether you liked it or not. Oh God, what if your room was messy? Or if you had an article of clothing—like your bra—laying around somewhere?

Somehow that thought crossed your mind, even though you knew that there was hardly anything but a bed, a closet, and a vanity since you couldn't handle not freezing everything for five seconds, and your room was cleaned regularly by both you or one of the servants. But what if that didn't live up to his standards and he judged you? It hurt your heart for some odd reason.

"Well, are we going in?" he asked since you stood there absentmindedly, holding the handle. You'd drifted off into a daydream of doubts.

"Oh... Yeah..." Sucking in a breath, cold sprouted underneath your fingernails as you turned the handle.

"Be careful there." Axel swiped your hand from the doorknob before you could freeze it entirely from your rising anxiety. Instead, he opened the door for you, pushing it open. "Doing Ok?" For a second, he believed you would freak out, but he wanted to push you for the greater good.

"Yeah," You lied, "Just worried. But come on in." Walking past him, you guided him into the grand empty space that was your room; It wasn't as big as Elsa's or Anna's own rooms, but it was still bigger than any other servant's room. His eyes widened, shining with the light as you lit some candles—them reflecting on the clear and white glass miniature chandelier hanging from the ceiling. Even though a sparkle gleamed in his eyes, you feared that his silence brought judgment.

You lowered your head, almost ashamed.

"That's... amazing," he commented, "The lights. They're almost warm as if I can feel their energy. As if the candles were lighting the chandelier itself."

The male wanted to stand on your bed and reach for the hangings lights but restrained himself.

A small gasp escaped between your lips and you tilted your head up. Did he actually mean that? "Really...? It's not... bland or anything?"

Why were your doubts constantly fighting a war against you?

"No. No way. Not while these candles burn. I think it's beautiful... I'd love to show Roxas and Xion one day—they're my friends."

A friend sounded nice... Elsa and Anna were the only friends you had. Maybe now this Axel was your new friend? At the unusual thought in your head, you ran a hand over the back of your neck. "Are they not here with you? Why?" Clearly, you remembered the several people you had saw with Elsa earlier, but neither of those names had been mentioned amongst the group. Was he someone different?

"The children don't do well in the cold. So I left them back in..." He paused, knowing he couldn't say exactly where they were, "Back in our kingdom. Better to, cause I'd rather not listen to their complaining the entire time." He chuckled, obviously teasing his friends behind their back—but it seemed something maybe the trio would do together. Did Elsa and Anna do that to you? You never did, but you did dream of a day where you had friends to create inside jokes with.

"I see. Maybe next time?" You hummed, a red flare rising to your cheeks. "Anyways... thank you. For your compliments. I always thought my room was bland... but I guess the lights do add some color to it." Your eyes glanced up at the ceiling, wondering if you could somehow see what Axel saw in the lights.

He looked down to you, hands on his hips. "Hey, it's no problem. The room could use some touch-up, but we have other matters. Let's wait for that dress, yes?"

"Okay," you agreed.

And so you did. The two of you waited for the servant to return. Since you didn't have much to do in your room, you... simply did nothing; though Axel appeared content from where he was. You sat on the edge of your bed, your hands and legs crossed respectfully like every lady of the court should have, while Axel sat across from you, seated in your vanity chair. The way he sat in the chair was the opposite way, where he had his chest to the back, and it made you question what kingdom he came from—and did they really think that was appropriate? His eyes told nothing of it and kept wandering everywhere. The pure entertainment for him was just thoroughly admiring everything around him. The clear sign of royalty seemed to fit him well, even if there wasn't much to look at. You wondered how he would act in either Elsa's or Anna's room.

A knock came to the door shortly.

"I got it," you said as Axel's head snapped back to you, mouth open and ready to say the same thing. Beating him to it, you walked to the door and answered, allowing the servant you'd conversed earlier with wheel in a mannequin with a dress draped over it. With the blank interior of your room, the contrast of the elegance of the dress popped before your eyes. Had it been in Elsa's room that morning, you probably wouldn't have looked at the dress the same way—your fingers running along the hem as you took in its features different from your current dress.

"Change and put the other dress on here before you leave. I shall fetch it later and bring it back when it is fixed." They smiled, bowing their head.

You smiled back and watched them leave. "Thank you."

When they left, Axel's jaw dropped. "Woah," he gasped softly, impressed while staring at your back unbelievably.

"Huh?" You turned toward him as though it were nothing. "What?"

"Look at what you just did there! Boom!"

"What did I do?"

"Answered the door without freaking out. I'm proud of you." Axel jumped to his feet, throwing his hand along your back. He appeared like a proud parent whose child just did something world-changing.

However, it did take you a minute before you realized what he was saying and covered your mouth with wide eyes; now you were a proud parent. You hadn't overthought the situation or even think about freaking out when you had talked to the servant. So you had not freaked out at all. That had never happened before—only to Elsa and Anna. And Axel. The list was growing now. "I did." You moved your hand over your heart, gripping your shirt.

"Of course you did!" Axel grinned. If he had a hat, he would have tipped it to you. "And did it well. I'm impressed for someone who said their insides hurt talking to that same servant earlier."

A sudden brightness crossed your face and you nodded your head, looking to his arm—after the confidence boost, it didn't bother you that it was around your shoulders. "I guess I did... Thank you... You have been helpful within this short period of time."

"My pleasure." He winked and removed his arm. "Well, anyways, I shall wait for you outside your door while you change." Axel patted your back once again and stuffed his hands into his pocket as he passed you. He left the room and you quickly changed out of your clothing and into the new dress. It was similar to the other dress, as all the dresses brought to you were supposed to be in your style; Elsa had every dress specially made for you, as were her own and Anna's. This one was a velvety dress that cut off at your shoulders and its hem reached down to your ankles. At having so much skin exposed, you wanted to be embarrassed, but the servant took unexpected time out of their day to fetch it for you so you couldn't complain. And...Axel was waiting for you. You couldn't disappoint him after giving him the taste of potential.

Reaching the door, you took a deep, ready breath in—calming yourself before you'd meet up with Axel outside.

He stood against the wall with his foot on it. Not really respectful in a castle, but you didn't tease him for it. Instead, you approached him with your new beautiful glory, basically shining. "I'm ready."

Axel looked to you, his eyes wandering up and down your new dress. "That looks lovely on you. I like it more than the other dress, actually."

"Oh... Thank you so much."

"No problem, my dear..." he replied and held his arm out, "You ready to be summoned to dinner? And look like the most stunning woman out there?" He winked again.

You rolled your eyes. "Stop it, Axel." Taking his arm, you linked it with yours and prepared for the night. "I'm ready to be summoned," you replied with a bashful expression, using all the strength you had on the inside. Being escorted... was something new to you, especially with a male. You admittedly believed your first escort would be with Elsa, and not to somewhere important. Standing next to Axel, you could feel extra heat radiating off his body, and you didn't mind one bit. It's like his flames were melting the doubts inside you, and you liked the sensation of it.

Axel took you down the spiral staircase near where you'd met him the second time, and where he saved you from your own ice powers. That scene still somehow was embedded into your mind—you saw yourself creeping down the stairs, and now you were elegantly walking down them. Then, you saw yourself peeking around the corner, and now you were confidently walking into the ballroom. No, almost dancing into it.

Anxiety couldn't be cured in a mere few hours—that's the reality of it. The negative emotions still swirled in your stomach and refused to leave you alone, but here with Axel, you felt as though you could face them at least.

"I think it's this way, yes?" Axel pointed out and you nodded so he could take the lead still. You'd almost forgotten that he didn't know the place as good as you.

With his long legs came long steps as he basically pulled you along by the arm as you reached towards the dining hall, which was already bustling with voices and activity. You then realized you'd have to enter the room and be the center of attention for a few moments, and stopped dead in your tracks; Axel nearly dragging you along and tripping.

Axel stopped and looked to you, confused. "What's wrong?"

"They're going to look at me." You stared at the large entrance, starting to fear the moments of attention.

"Yeah, so?"

"I don't like that." You picked at your fingernails with your free hand.

Axel smiled at you then pulled your cheeks gently into his hands. It forced you to look into his bright green eyes that greatly complemented his hair. "Then burn 'em baby. Make sure they memorize your every move, cause one day they're going to worship you."

He was looking you directly in the eyes and you had to blush cause he was so close. His hands moved down to yours and he linked your arms together before leading you back the direction of the dining room. Before you could respond, he leads you inside.

The entrance was grand as it always was.

Stepping through, everyone paused—just as you thought they would. You observed their faces—all equally shocked. First, you looked at Elsa's and Anna's, the guests, and then servants. No face was any different from each other.

Sora gasped first, food dropping out of his mouth. "Axel?" he gasped.

"What a surprise." Axel pointed to his temple. "That you got it memorized, I see." He leads you to the table and pulls a chair out politely for you where you would be seated between Anna and Axel. Axel pushed you in carefully and took the seat next to you. "Sorry it took so long. Couldn't find the bathroom for a while and got lost. But I at least found a friend along the way." He pointed you out, or more like called you out.

Everyone was still staring and you had to lower your head to avoid the attention as it was too embarrassing.

"She's a shy one." Axel laughed, gently elbowing your side. "Come on, you're doing so well," he whispered to you. Oh God, Axel, please...ya know. Shut up?

"I'm so glad you could make it," Elsa broke the awkward tension, her hands together with the brightest smile on her face. "I thought for a moment that you wouldn't show."

"Yeah, sorry about that..."

"It's no problem." Elsa shook her head. "We are glad that you are here—as always."

You nodded.

Anna grabbed your arm, shaking it with her excitement buzzing out of the room. "Yeah! I wanted you to meet my friends so bad!" She giggled and elbowed her fiance Kristoff beside her. "We all were!"

Kristoff nearly choked on his soup, his hand awkwardly cupping underneath his chin to catch the running liquids. "Yeah—"

"I'm glad to be here—" You stuttered out and looked to all the new faces across from you at the table. Time to conquer your fears, you told yourself and took a shaky breath, "And it's a pleasure you are all here. I have met Axel already... But what are your names?" For the sake of them not finding out about earlier, you lied and tried to keep a smile on your face, feeling Axel smile at the back of your head, a proud smile plastered to it you're sure of it.

"My name's Sora!" Sora laughed and looked to his friends, about to introduce them—

"I'm Riku."

"I'm Kairi."

"I'm Donald."

"And I'm Goofy!"

"Awe, guys—" Sora pouted.

You introduced yourself and then was luckily saved by the announcement of dinner being served. Elsa had a big feast with several food choices, as always with the fancy party dinners she threw for everyone for any occasion she could. Or at least you presumed—you didn't go to them often. There was much to choose from, and you sheepishly grabbed what you liked the most. Axel didn't grab much but Anna was scarfing down everything next to you like the cute piglet she was. The sight of her happiness and all the happiness around the room seemed to make you feel that same odd feeling. It was strange. You hadn't felt it in a while since your anxiety was a cloud blocking the sunshine most days. Did your... perspective change?

Because of Axel? It felt like a nice change.

"Hey, let me try that," Axel reached his fork over, stealing a bit of food off your plate, eating it. A tiny bit was still on his lip.

A small puff of air that was a laugh erupted from your chest. You ran your thumb over your bottom lip but said nothing.

"Huh?" His eyebrow cocked up.

"You got a little something."

"I do?" He raised his spoon to look into its reflection but instead you reached over and wiped the excess food of his lip with your own thumb. Such a bold move caused your cold skin to sizzle against his warmth.

"Oh." He laughed. "That was a nice touch you did there."

"Thank you—" You laughed.

You became so lost within Axel's eyes that glimmered with emotions you were starting to have, that you failed to notice the eyes on you. And Elsa had never felt so much joy for you—this was the start of a new shell for you, that included everyone.


End file.
